Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church

The Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (or Free Russian Orthodox Church) is one of several "True" Orthodox Churches in Russia, which has roots in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and claims to be a continuation of the Catacomb Church of Russia.

Contents

The Establishment of the "Free Russian Orthodox Church"

At the end of World War II, many parts of the catacomb Church reconciled with the Moscow Patriarchate, due to the election of a new Patriarch (Alexei I), and to a lessening of the level of persecution on the part of the Soviets. By the 1980's, what was left of the catacomb Church no longer had any hierarchy of its own, and was very small and scattered. Due to a desire to support these people, ROCOR decided to consecrate a secret bishop for the catacomb Church in 1982 -- Bishop Lazar (Zhurbenko). This was the first step towards the establishment of ROCOR parishes inside Russia -- a policy that was controversial even at the time, and which ROCOR later came to regret. These parishes came to be known as the "Free Russian Orthodox Church", or FROC.

The Fracturing of the FROC, and the Establishment of ROAC

As the number of parishes and bishops of the FROC increased in the 90's after the collapse of the Soviet Union, conflicts among them likewise increased, as well as conflicts between the leaders of the Synod of ROCOR and the bishops in Russia. Bishops of the Free Russian Orthodox Church, who were under the jurisdiction of ROCOR, i.e. Archbishop Lazar and Bishop Valentin, were ultimately removed from their Sees. They chose to separate from ROCOR administratively and form an autonomous, self-governing Church, citing as their canonical basis Ukaz No. 362 of St. PatriarchTikhon of November 20, 1920. They also consecrated three bishops for the Russian Church: Theodore, Seraphim, and Agafangel.

A year later, after unsuccessful attempts to find an acceptable means of self-government for the Russian parishes, on February 11/24, 1995, the Synod of ROCOR suspended five Bishops of the FROC at one time. The result was a schism between the Synod of ROCOR and a large portion of the FROC.

In 1995, Archbishop Lazarus, with Bishops Benjamin and Agafangel, came back to ROCOR, while three bishops, with Archbishop Valentin at the head, remained in schism. In May 1995 the long-term secretary of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR, the famous Church historian and canonist, Right Reverend Bishop Gregory (Grabbe), visited Suzdal. He approved the decisions of the Russian bishops to withdraw from administrative subordination to the foreign Synod (ROCOR), just before he passed away. Some attributed this to his age, while others claimed this was due to his belief that they were following the "true" historical course of ROCOR.

In October 1998 the "Free Russian Orthodox Church" (FROC) headed by Valentine was re-registered under the name of the "Russian Orthodox (Autonomous) Church" (ROAC). Presently the episcopate of ROAC consists of twelve bishops. The head of the Church was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan in March 2001.